Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. II (NASDAQ: DSKE) and Marten Transport (NASDAQ:MRTN) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitabiliy, valuation, dividends, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. II and Marten Transport, as provided by MarketBeat.

17.2% of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. II shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 40.7% of Marten Transport shares are owned by institutional investors. 20.0% of Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. II shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 23.0% of Marten Transport shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Marten Transport pays an annual dividend of $0.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. II does not pay a dividend. Marten Transport pays out 9.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend.

Volatility & Risk

Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. II has a beta of -0.1, indicating that its stock price is 110% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Marten Transport has a beta of 1.27, indicating that its stock price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Marten Transport beats Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. II on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Hennessy Capital Acquisition Corp. II

Daseke, Inc. is a consolidator of the open deck freight market in North America. The Company provides open deck transportation and logistics. It operates through two segments: Flatbed Solutions and Specialized Solutions. The Flatbed Solutions segment focuses on delivering transportation and logistics solutions that principally require the use of flatbed and retractable-sided transportation equipment. The Specialized Solutions segment focuses on delivering transportation and logistics solutions that principally include heavy haul, high-value customized, over-dimensional, step deck and removable gooseneck trailer solutions. As of July 5, 2017, the Company had a fleet of over 3,600 trucks and 7,500 open deck specialized trailers. The Company serves customers in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

About Marten Transport

Marten Transport, Ltd. is a temperature-sensitive truckload carrier. The Company focuses on transporting and distributing food and other consumer-packaged goods that require a temperature-controlled or insulated environment. The Company operates through four segments: Truckload, Dedicated, Intermodal and Brokerage. It operates throughout the United States and in parts of Canada and Mexico. The Company’s medium-to-long-haul traffic lanes are between the Midwest and the West Coast, Southwest, Southeast, and the East Coast, as well as from California to the Pacific Northwest. It provides regional truckload carrier services in the Southeast, West Coast, Midwest, South Central and Northeast regions. It also offers loading and unloading activities, equipment detention and other ancillary services. The Company’s Truckload segment provides a combination of regional short-haul and medium-to-long-haul full-load transportation services.